"Completion of controversial oil pipeline near as work moves quickly, but one Standing Rock protester says: ‘There is no time for waiting any more’"

"Native American protesters are preparing to take a 'last stand' against the Dakota Access pipeline after police raided their camps and arrested hundreds, paving the way for construction of the final stretch of the controversial oil project.

The Standing Rock protesters in North Dakota have been fighting the $3.8bn pipeline since April but were dealt a blow last week when police successfully pushed them off the property where construction is rapidly advancing.

While claims of excessive use of force by police and inhumane treatment in jail have sparked national outrage, native leaders camped out in the cold in Cannon Ball said they have also grown increasingly concerned that time is running out to stop the project on the ground. Pipeline workers, they say, are getting frighteningly close to the sacred water of the Missouri river."